Empowering Agricultural Entrepreneurs to Sustainably Feed the World
At Cargill, sustainable food production is fundamental to what we do. Our core business is buying, processing and distributing grains, oilseeds and other agricultural commodities and selling them to customers that include food and beverage manufacturers, foodservice companies and retailers. These customers increasingly want to know – and want to prove to their consumers – […]
Business and the UN MDGs Post 2015 – Changing context: Business opportunity
In less than 1000 days, the world is due to keep true to its promise to the deliver the UN Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs), the framework that almost 200 governments signed up to in 2000 to address the most pressing issues of the world’s poorest by 2015. Much has been achieved but there is still […]
Defining a New Development Framework that Strengthens the Contribution of Business
Since 2000 and the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sub-Saharan Africa’s citizens have experienced growing stability and security alongside a sustained and widespread economic transformation that has lifted millions out of poverty. Despite these advances, progress across a broad range of MDG indicators remains frustratingly slow and uneven. At a time when aid […]
Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation – Not the Same Thing
Social entrepreneurs are obsessed, quirky, and disruptive – and that’s why they can be so effective in creating major change. At the UN Social Innovation Summit held at the end of May in New York City, a plenary panelist stated that social enterprises and social innovation are “really the same thing.” This conclusion was not […]
Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation – Not the Same Thing
Social entrepreneurs are obsessed, quirky, and disruptive – and that’s why they can be so effective in creating major change. At the UN Social Innovation Summit held at the end of May in New York City, a plenary panelist stated that social enterprises and social innovation are “really the same thing.” This conclusion was not […]
The Multi-Stakeholder InitiativesMid-Life Crisis – time for a support group?
The sun is shining here in Sydney and a thousand attendees are gathered for the Global Conference of the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a multistakeholder effort bringing together stakeholders from government, civil society, oil, gas and mining companies and investors in support of transparency to help ensure citizens see the benefits from their […]
Michael Jarvis: The Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives Mid-Life Crisis – time for a support group?
The sun is shining here in Sydney and a thousand attendees are gathered for the Global Conference of the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a multistakeholder effort bringing together stakeholders from government, civil society, oil, gas and mining companies and investors in support of transparency to help ensure citizens see the benefits from their […]
A Manifesto
Twelve years after starting Acumen, we’ve learned a lot about poverty. On the one hand, we’ve seen that patient capital works: from nine ambulances to 1,000 answering 2 million calls; from a solar torch prototype to bringing light to 14 million. That’s impact that matters. On the other, we’ve learned the real costs of growing […]
Why Job Creation Is King in Africa, Just Like Everywhere Else
At the recent Africa Economic Summit in Cape Town, one of the themes of debate was the ‘post 2015’ goals, which the United Nations community will set itself when the existing Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. I spoke at an event hosted by Business Fights Poverty where the audience seemed divided over whether these […]
Empowering women at scale requires a strong business case and partnership
Coca-Cola, like many other businesses, recognises that our business growth journey in emerging economies will only be sustainable if the benefits of growth reach all members of society, especially those who traditionally have been marginalised, including women and young people. As a business, we believe that there is no better investment than women, both to […]
The SunWater Project – Advanced Solar Technology for Poor Farmers
In my last article, you heard about SunWater, a project to build a radically affordable solar water pump for $2-a-day farmers that will transform small plot agriculture, create new water markets, and significantly increase incomes that will raise bottom-of-the-pyramid families out of poverty. Our target customers are small-plot farmers in India and Africa. These farmers […]
Supporting entrepreneurship in FE colleges
Rod Bristow, UK president of our education business, spoke at yesterday’s Future Possible conference in London, organised by the Gazelle group of entrepreneurial further education colleges. Speaking on the same bill as UK education minister Matthew Hancock MP and John Cridland from the Confederation of British Industry, Rod set out the twin challenges we face: […]
The Power Of Partnership And The Complexity Of Creating Meaningful Change
It started with people and the idea that we, at Coca-Cola, could marry our business interests and expertise to make our products available, acceptable and affordable with the ever growing potential of African agriculture. It seems like a simple transaction for farmers to grow, buy and sell food. However, the reality is a complex one […]
TechnoServe: Laying The Foundation For Sustainable Change
In eastern Uganda, the members of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association once let their mangoes fall to the ground and rot. Buyers considered the local variety, the Sena, to be too low-quality for pulping and juicing. As a result, farmers never cultivated mangoes as a cash crop. Project Nurture, a partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, […]
Getting Paid – The Value of Using Mobile Payment Systems
In several developing and emerging markets, the use of mobile phones to make financial transactions (‘mobile money’) is now widely accepted, including by those at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP)*. The largest telecoms provider in Africa, MTN, transfers close to $208 million across their networks every month, according to its CEO Themba Khumalo. […]
Transforming Solar Pumping to Eliminate Rural Poverty
What if we could harness the limitless power of the sun to carry water to the crops of millions of small poor farmers around the world? If I want to water my petunias, I turn on the tap outside my house, hold my thumb over the end of a battered green hose, and water away. […]
China's Silent Army – A Review
As I write this, the ever-growing dominance of China is often in the news – and not always in a good way. From Australia, the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, writes in the New Statesman that ‘for the first time since George III, a non-western, non-democratic state will be the largest economy in the world. […]
China’s Silent Army – A Review
As I write this, the ever-growing dominance of China is often in the news – and not always in a good way. From Australia, the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, writes in the New Statesman that ‘for the first time since George III, a non-western, non-democratic state will be the largest economy in the world. […]
Four Tips for Becoming an Intrapreneur
Sometimes, the hardest part about becoming an intrapreneur is just getting started. Intrapreneurs improve existing systems by advocating for CSR, sustainability, shared value, or engaging with the community. They are internal innovators who innovate within a larger company or organization, as opposed to within startups – which are generally expected to be more innovative. I’m […]
Using education to sustain Africa’s growth
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report tells us that sustained economic growth across Africa is due, at least in part, to institutional reforms in the health and primary education sectors. Education increases economic growth, helps families and communities to prosper, and empowers people to gain employment and live healthier, more fulfilling lives. In the […]